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Dining Out: Pizza and Pasta - Amari Orchid’s Friday specialty
When a girl wearing more campaign medals (read large chunks of gold) than an African potentate and speaking English like she’d been educated in the hallowed halls of Cambridge tells a first-time foreign visitor to the Land of Gullible Men that she’s only been working in a bar for three months, you’d be excused for thinking that she might be stretching the bonds of truth a tad tightly. When she then suggests to the lust-struck foreigner that it would be possible for him to reside in Fun Town if he purchased a bar and put it in her capable hands, you might think the penny would drop and the odd alarm bell would go off in his addled brain. It didn’t and the result was predictable. In a past life, I was involved in the horse and greyhound racing industry and a common phrase uttered about many gamblers arriving on a racecourse is, “off goes the head and on goes a pumpkin”. For some wily damsels in Fun Town it must be like shooting fish in a barrel with a bazooka as foreigners suspend reality and, in a desperate attempt to stay on in the Land of Many Beer Bars, shell out cash to go into a ‘biznet’ they know little or nothing about, with a girl they know little or nothing about in a country they know little or nothing about. I can well understand the allure of Fun Town and equally sympathise with the idea of staying here. Been there, done that. However, if you really want to go into ‘biznet’, give yourself an amount of moolah you are prepared to risk and go for it. If it goes up the spout, then at least you were mentally prepared; if you happen to strike a rich vein and everything goes well, then thank your lucky Buddha for you are truly a rarity. Birthday Party: This coming Thursday night (October 4) get down to the Pussycat ogling den (Naklua Road) and help Tony celebrate his birthday in style. The den will be putting on the usual free munchies as well as conducting lucky draws. Tony tells me his partner has coughed up the dough for him to take a 6,000 plus metre skydive over Pattaya that will end with him landing in the reservoir. I’m always a bit worried by people who want to jump out of a perfectly good plane trusting that a few metres of silk stuffed into a small bag on their back is going to get them safely to the ground. Then again, I get dizzy just going up the escalator in Royal Garden Plaza. Grand opening: The Winchester Club, a Sierra Tango boozer located in the boondocks of Jomtien and famous for its Sunday noshup, is expanding and connections are going into the ogling den trade with the official opening party of the Winchester play palace in Walking Street on Wednesday October 3. The chrome pole palace is situated above the Champion ogling den and there will be free nosh, so balloon chasers please note. The original and best: The Siam cheap eats noshery (Soi Diana, opposite the Diana Dragon sleeping palace) was the first of its kind to open in the soi, and although it has been copied, it has not been bettered. Beefsteak is the most expensive item on the menu at 95 baht, while most other western-style dishes are a mere 75 baht. The chips, or fries, are of the crinkle-cut variety. Thai dishes vary between 25 and 50 baht. Drinks are also cheap with Heineken and Carlsberg at 45 baht a bottle, Singha 40 baht and small Chang just 30 baht. Soft drinks and tea and coffee range from 15 to 25 baht. No wonder the place is always busy. Got an apple for my horse: The Cowboy beer boozer (Second Road, corner of Soi Yamato) offers some pretty competitive prices when it comes to liquid refreshment. For example, large bottles of Leo and Chang are a mere 50 baht as are bottles of Heineken, a jug of Amstel draught is just 100 baht, spirits such as Vodka and Gin retail at 65 baht while tea and coffee will set you back 25 baht. Some - but not all - of the thirst-quenchers are even cheaper in Happy Hour. My e-mail address is: [email protected]
Canival Night opens the TTM social rounds story and photos by Peter Cummins All who attended were fortunate to have well-known DJ Richard Jackson as the Master of Ceremonies of the splendid opening gambit of the Travel Thailand Mart 2001 (TTM), the “Pattaya Carnival Night” held at the Royal Cliff. Richard had just the right “touch” to launch the huge party, welcoming “some 200 buyers from across the world, more than 500 sellers from various tourism establishments across Thailand, our journalist friends and our sponsors - all of whom have contributed to making TTM the success that it deserves.”
Richard also pointed out that TTM was designed to maintain the momentum of increasing tourism numbers to the Kingdom, already up for the first half of 2001 over last year’s record intake. Although the long, murderous tentacles of faceless terrorism which struck the United States two weeks ago also reached into Thailand, TTM, the first-ever to be held and many months in the planning, opened on schedule on 17 September at the Royal Cliff’s Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall (PEACH). Nevertheless, the tragedy of 11 September affected attendance, for cancellation and delays of many international flights reduced somewhat the number of delegations from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand - and, particularly - the United States.
Even then, the original number of some 170 tourism operators from more than 40 countries, although down, was boosted somewhat by late entrants from Romania and Turkey, amongst others. And the splendid ambience of the “Carnivale” could not be diminished. “Oh, what a night...”, as the 1970s popular song would have it. One after another they came: the singers, the gorgeous dancers and the entertainers, while the huge crowd ate, drank and thoroughly enjoyed the marvellous evening.
The band played on...and on, as we were regaled by that OTHER Jackson and Tina Turner. I had a little “deja vu” for these two - could that have been at the Malibu, by any chance? Then, our own Elvis took centre stage and poured his heart out. The night just did not last long enough! The “Pattaya Carnival Night” was, no doubt, a reflection of what Richard Jackson summed up as “a growing number of individuals, companies and organizations now regard Pattaya as one of the best value-for-money destinations in Asia.” Not one of us would argue with that, Richard!
Between a place and a Hard Rock
The Hard Rock Cafe does not open until the 15th of October, and the Hard Rock Hotel one month later, but the place has already rocked the Pattaya establishment! During the Thailand Travel Mart (TTM) 2001, the energetic, dancing general manager, Andrew Khoo, threw open the doors of the Hard Rock Cafe and locals and TTM delegates alike swarmed into the latest up-market Pattaya meeting place.
SuSu and the staff, complete with their chains of office, swung in behind him and produced the party to end all parties on Beach Road. If the enthusiastic crowd before the opening is anything to go by, the Hard Rock Cafe’s future is assured in the fun city of Pattaya.
Copyright 2001 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co. Ltd. E-mail: [email protected] |
Weather
permitting, the tables and chairs are laid out in the Amari Orchid’s
tropical gardens, a truly picturesque setting. On every table there is an
orchid. In line with the Italian concept, the tablecloths are red and the
napkins green and the waiters have red waistcoats. Altogether a well
executed ‘theme’ evening.
We
began with a minestrone for me and a carpaccio, Parma ham and stuffed
tomatoes for Madame. The minestrone was hot and very chunky with plenty of
vegetables. The grated parmesan cheese is also there for you to add to
your own taste. The carpaccio was traditional and very tasty and the
stuffed tomatoes went well with Madame’s choice.
“Love
me tender...” Elvis in full flight
We
love you Elvis...!
DJ
extraordinaire Richard Jackson with Cindy Burbridge
The
faces say it all! These partygoers were having a great time at the party
thrown by the energetic manager of the Hard Rock Cafe, Andrew Khoo.
Part
of working at the Hard Rock is to just plain have fun - and the team is
poised to not only do just that, but also share it energetically with
customers.